Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) said Monday afternoon that it was up to House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) to get a bill passed to keep the government open — but he wasn’t optimistic.
“Tonight we’ll see whether the Speaker is really willing to shut down the government, risking our economic recovery to extract callous political concessions,” Reid said on the Senate floor. “I hope he makes the responsible decision. I doubt that he will. But I hope he does.”
The Senate rejected the House’s anti-Obamacare provisions passed Saturday as part of a spending bill. The House is expected to vote on at least one more spending bill, which will likely include more anti-Obamacare elements, before the end of the day. The federal government will shut down Tuesday if Congress fails to pass a new spending bill.
“Democrats are through negotiating with ourselves,” Reid said. “That’s what it amounts to. The fate of our country and our economy now rests with John Boehner.”
